Review: Chameleon Soul by Mia Hoddell

ABOUT THE BOOK: I have it all: my dream career as a Formula 1 driver, more money than I can spend, crowds who cheer my name “Teo Coates,” and an endless supply of beautiful women to warm my bed as I travel the world.

I should be happy. I should love my life.
But none of it means anything without her.

One year ago, the love of my life broke off our two-year relationship via a phone call. No explanation, no apology, and no sign it was coming. She shattered me…ripped out my heart. And the worst part is that I couldn’t stay to fight for her without losing my career.

However, now the racing season’s over, I’m back, and I intend to reclaim my girl’s heart.

There’s just one problem.

The girl I left behind no longer exists. Plagued by fear, something has broken Raine Wilkins to the point where she’s struggling to cope with each day. It’s going to take all of my skill to gather the explanation I was denied a year ago and persuade her to reveal her secrets. But if there’s one thing I can guarantee, it’s I never lose. I returned to the UK with one goal: win back the girl I love, and nothing and no one will get in my way.

Recommended for ages 17+ due to language and sexual content. Each book in the Chequered Flag series can be read as a standalone and is complete with a HEA. Chequered Flag books are sport romances with elements of suspense, and are written with British spelling and grammar.

Even if I wanted to comfort her I couldn’t. I didn’t know the first thing about what was going on. She wasn’t going to push me away this time because I wasn’t leaving until I got my answers. This time I’d fight for her.

REVIEW: Fear is very real and dangerous. It clings to vulnerability and weaknesses, providing the perfect opportunity for everlasting scars. Fear causes us to commit to unintelligible actions based on the unknown or even worse—past experiences. Hoddell shares an amazing fictional story with her readers, encompassing love, pain and fear of a relationship after a traumatic experience. This story is intriguing, compelling and emotionally heart-stopping. By reading the words that Hoddell writes in this first installment of the Chequered Flag Series, readers are able to experience the turmoil that is caused by reliving one painful experience, causing detrimental impact—given the inability to overcome the fear of its re-occurrence.

Raine wakes up in a hospital, thankful that her two best friends are both there to support her. After much debate, it becomes apparent that Raine has been hunted down as a means to target someone else in the process. Raine’s irrational thoughts leave her with one ultimate conclusion—she is in the hospital because of her love for Teo. She has been with Teo for two years, but with his growing success as a racer, her life has been placed in danger. Her resolve is to end the relationship in order to prevent further attacks on her life, also an attempt for Teo’s. If he knew what transpired, landing her in the hospital broken and defenseless, he would never take the opportunity to live the life that he has strived so hard to build. After much debate and countless requests for reconsideration by both friends—Raine sends the text that will end it all…for an entire year.

Hoddell seems to fluently understand the psychological aspect of her characters. It is apparent that a great deal of research has been completed in order to make these characters credible or plausible in a balanced fashion. The ‘friend role’ that Dustin plays is very important in this story; Raine’s reality has completely shattered, but Dustin is piecing her back together as much as possible. Whereas, Dustin has his own inner demons, fighting an emotionally abusive relationship, Raine’s nightmares and her reactions to touch and sound can be closely related to what someone may suffer if diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress. The author is very descriptive in her wording, allowing her characters to become extremely convincing. It would not be difficult to find sympathy for several of these characters along the way.

Not only does the author succeed in character development and originality, she has created an understanding for her readers of what an emotional breakdown and reconstruction consists of. It’s not easy! An entire year of being afraid of the dark, afraid of others, afraid of yourself would be mentally exhausting. Due to the psychological insights and intensity of the story—Hoddell has a compelling novel that will shed some light on what it takes to fight the fear and pain caused by others. If you are a reader of new adult and college, this may interest you. A free copy was exchanged for an honest review of this fictional piece.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: #1 Amazon bestselling author Mia Hoddell lives in the UK with her family and two cats. She spends most of her time writing or reading, loves anything romantic, and has an overactive imagination that keeps her up until the early hours of the morning.

Mia has written over ten titles including her Seasons of Change series, the Chequered Flag series, the Elemental Killers series, and her standalone novels False Finder, Not Enough, and Bet On Me.

Her favourite genres are contemporary romance or romantic suspense, and with an ever growing list of ideas she is trying to keep up with the speed at which her imagination generates them. She also designs book covers on her website M Designs.